Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minutePC Slower Than It Used to Be?
A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11This guide covers NYT Connections game #563, released on Wednesday, December 25, 2024. It includes progressively stronger hints, the 16-word grid, the four category answers, explanations for the less familiar words, and the Christmas-themed trap involving Santa’s reindeer.
Spoiler warning: The words appear first, followed by hints. The complete categories and answers are farther down the page. As of August 10, 2026, “today” in this article’s search wording refers to that historical puzzle date—not the current live Connections game.
NYT Connections #563: date and game number
The puzzle in question is Connections #563, published on Wednesday, December 25, 2024. Some contemporaneous coverage displays a December 24 publication timestamp, including a Forbes guide dated December 24, but it identifies the same December 25 puzzle. That is a publication-timing difference, not a separate answer grid.
The answer key below matches the word list and groupings reported by multiple independent guides, including TechRadar, Parade, Try Hard Guides and News9.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →The 16 words in Connections #563
Here is the complete grid, before the hints and solutions:
- QUEEN
- STAR
- CUPID
- STRONG
- RUDOLPH
- SAGITTARIUS
- NANNY
- COMET
- VIXEN
- MOON
- ROBIN HOOD
- SHANNON
- HAWKEYE
- FEY
- JENNY
- PLANET
Because Connections is designed to include words that seem to fit more than one group, do not assume that four related-looking Christmas words, names or celebrities necessarily belong together.
Hints for the four groups
Light hints
- One group is found in the sky or in outer space.
- One group consists of people, characters or symbolic figures associated with bows and arrows.
- One group uses traditional words for female animals.
- One group contains surnames linked to a long-running sketch-comedy program.
Stronger category clues
Use these only if the light hints are not enough:
- Yellow: Astronomy
- Green: Bow and arrow
- Blue: Lady beasts, or female animals
- Purple: “Live from New York…”
One-word nudges
If you need a final push without seeing the complete solution, try these representative entries:
- Celestial group: COMET
- Archer group: CUPID
- Female-animal group: JENNY
- S.N.L. group: FEY
Connections #563 answers
The official color order runs from yellow, the easiest category, through green, blue and finally purple, the trickiest. That order comes from the NYT Games Help Center; it should not be confused with an individual player’s experience of the puzzle.
Rank #2
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Celestial objects | COMET, MOON, PLANET, STAR |
| Green | Archers | CUPID, HAWKEYE, ROBIN HOOD, SAGITTARIUS |
| Blue | Female animals | JENNY, NANNY, QUEEN, VIXEN |
| Purple | Saturday Night Live cast members | FEY, RUDOLPH, SHANNON, STRONG |
Why each group works
Yellow: COMET, MOON, PLANET and STAR — celestial objects
These are broad astronomy-related terms for objects associated with the sky or outer space:
- COMET is a small Solar System body that can develop a visible coma and tail as it approaches the Sun.
- MOON is Earth’s natural satellite and can also be used more generally for a natural satellite orbiting a planet.
- PLANET is a major body that orbits a star.
- STAR is a self-luminous astronomical object.
The intended category is celestial objects, not “things that shine.” That distinction matters: planets and the Moon are generally visible because they reflect sunlight rather than producing their own light. The category is a deliberately broad editorial grouping, as reflected in the contemporaneous answer key.
Green: CUPID, HAWKEYE, ROBIN HOOD and SAGITTARIUS — archers
The connection is association with the bow and arrow, although the four entries do not represent the same kind of figure:
- CUPID is traditionally shown carrying a bow and arrows.
- HAWKEYE, most commonly Clint Barton in Marvel, is an expert marksman and archer. Marvel’s character profile describes his archery and marksmanship skills.
- ROBIN HOOD is the legendary English outlaw traditionally portrayed as an exceptionally skilled archer.
- SAGITTARIUS is the Archer, represented in mythology and astronomy as a bow-wielding figure or centaur. It is also a zodiac sign and constellation.
SAGITTARIUS is the stretch in this category: it is not a person in the same sense as Hawkeye or Robin Hood. The grouping uses “archers” broadly to include a fictional character, a legendary figure, a mythological or symbolic figure, and a zodiac representation. Sagittarius’s association with the Archer is documented in traditional astronomical references such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica entry.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsBlue: JENNY, NANNY, QUEEN and VIXEN — female animals
This is the most vocabulary-dependent group. These are not four animal species; they are traditional labels or senses for females of particular animals:
- JENNY means a female donkey and can also refer to a female bird. See Merriam-Webster’s definition of jenny.
- NANNY is short for nanny goat, a female goat. The relevant sense is not a person who cares for children; it is the animal term in Merriam-Webster’s entry for nanny goat.
- QUEEN can mean the fertile female in social insects such as bees, ants, wasps and termites. It can also refer to a mature female cat kept for breeding, so the intended connection is an animal-related dictionary sense rather than royalty, chess or playing cards.
- VIXEN means a female fox, as defined by Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries.
That is why “traditional terms for female animals” is more accurate than calling these entries “four female animals.”
Purple: FEY, RUDOLPH, SHANNON and STRONG — Saturday Night Live cast members
Each word is a surname. Supply the first name and the connection becomes clear:
- FEY → Tina Fey
- RUDOLPH → Maya Rudolph
- SHANNON → Molly Shannon
- STRONG → Cecily Strong
All four are former Saturday Night Live cast members or alumni. The Peacock SNL cast page provides a current cast and alumni reference, including Rudolph and Strong.
Be careful with the spelling: the grid contains FEY, not FEW. At least one indexed answer page has a transcription error in this group, which is why checking the surname against Tina Fey is useful.
The Christmas red herring: four apparent reindeer names
The most tempting false grouping is:
CUPID, COMET, RUDOLPH, VIXEN
That looks like a set of Santa’s reindeer, but it cannot be submitted as the intended group. The four words are deliberately distributed across three different categories:
| Word | Why it looks seasonal | Its actual group |
|---|---|---|
| CUPID | A name associated with a reindeer | Archer, because Cupid carries a bow and arrows |
| COMET | A name associated with a reindeer | Celestial object |
| RUDOLPH | The famous red-nosed reindeer | S.N.L. cast member, through Maya Rudolph |
| VIXEN | A name associated with a reindeer | Female animal, because a vixen is a female fox |
Contemporaneous coverage and player reactions identified this as an apparent or likely trap, including the Forbes discussion of the reindeer overlap. The NYT did not publicly confirm the editor’s intent, so it is more precise to call it an apparent red herring rather than a confirmed editorial statement.
Other overlaps that can derail a solve
- SAGITTARIUS can appear to belong with COMET, MOON, PLANET and STAR because it is a constellation and zodiac sign. Its intended role is the Archer.
- QUEEN may initially suggest royalty, chess or a playing-card rank before its animal sense becomes apparent.
- RUDOLPH is particularly distracting in a December 25 puzzle because of its Christmas association, even though the answer uses Maya Rudolph’s surname.
- FEY, SHANNON and STRONG look like ordinary surnames until the S.N.L. connection supplies the missing first names.
- JENNY looks like a person’s first name, while NANNY most readily suggests a caregiver. Both require less familiar animal-related meanings.
- STAR can mean a celebrity, creating a weaker possible association with the S.N.L. surnames instead of astronomy.
How to play or replay Connections #563
In a normal Connections puzzle, the NYT gives players 16 words and asks them to find four groups of four that share a connection. Select four entries and press Submit. You have up to four incorrect submissions; the puzzle ends after the fourth mistake. The official NYT Games Help Center explains the game’s format, color order and statistics.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Replay instructions
On the web: Open the NYT Games area, go to nytimes.com/crosswords, open the navigation menu and choose the Connections Archive. Select December 25, 2024 or game #563.
In the app: Open the Games app and choose the Connections Archive section, then select the December 25, 2024 puzzle.
The archive’s current official information says it reaches back to June 12, 2023, but archive access is limited to eligible All Access and Games subscribers. Availability and labels can vary by account and platform. Completed archive puzzles cannot be replayed; archive play contributes to completed-puzzle statistics but does not affect the daily streak.
The daily game is released at midnight in the player’s timezone, which is another reason publication timestamps and the date a guide displays can differ. For this historical guide, however, the relevant release date remains Wednesday, December 25, 2024.
Recommended Free Tools
The Bottom Line
Answer summary: Connections #563, released Wednesday, December 25, 2024, groups COMET, MOON, PLANET and STAR as celestial objects; CUPID, HAWKEYE, ROBIN HOOD and SAGITTARIUS as archers; JENNY, NANNY, QUEEN and VIXEN as female-animal terms; and FEY, RUDOLPH, SHANNON and STRONG as Saturday Night Live cast surnames. The Christmas reindeer grouping is the key trap.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
